Introduction
Andrew W. Houston (/ˈhaʊs.tən/; born March 4, 1983) is an American Internet entrepreneur, and the co-founder and CEO of Dropbox, an online backup and storage service. According to Forbes, his net worth is about $2.2 billion. Houston held 24.4 percent voting power in Dropbox before filing for IPO in February 2018.
Early life
Houston was born in Acton, Massachusetts in 1983.He attended Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in the 1990s. He later graduated with a degree in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. It was there that he met Arash Ferdowsi who would later go on to be co-founder and CTO of Dropbox.
During his time in college, Houston co-founded a SAT prep company.
Career
Before working on Dropbox, Houston worked on a number of other startups which include Bit9, Accolade and HubSpot.
Houston and Ferdowsi co-founded Dropbox in 2007. Houston currently is CEO and 25% owner of Dropbox.
In February 2020, Houston joined the board of directors of Facebook, replacing Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who left in May 2019.
Accolades
Houston was named one of the most promising players aged 30 and under by Business Week, and Dropbox has been touted as Y Combinator's most successful investment to date. Houston was also named among the top 30 under-30 entrepreneurs by inc.com, and Dropbox has been called one of the 20 best startups of Silicon Valley.
In June 2013, MIT invited Houston to serve as speaker at its annual commencement ceremonies. In his remarks, Houston gave this advice:
They say that you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Think about that for a minute: who would be in your circle of five? I have some good news: MIT is one of the best places in the world to start building that circle. If I hadn't come here, I wouldn't have met Adam, I wouldn't have met my amazing cofounder, Arash, and there would be no Dropbox. One thing I've learned is surrounding yourself with inspiring people is now just as important as being talented or working hard. Can you imagine if Michael Jordan hadn’t been in the NBA, if his circle of five had been a bunch of guys in Italy? Your circle pushes you to be better, just as Adam pushed me.
— Drew Houston, June 7, 2013
Personal life
Houston is single and lives in San Francisco, California.
Politics
In April 2013, a lobbying group called FWD.us (aimed at lobbying for immigration reform and improvements to education) was launched, with Houston listed as one of the founders.
In 2016, he endorsed Hillary Clinton for President.